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Milwaukee Waterways

These photographs are from the Port of Milwaukee, Milwaukee Public Library Historic Photo Collection, and the Great Lakes Marine Collection of Milwaukee Public Library and the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.…

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Happy Birthday, Nikola Tesla!

By Jennifer on Jul 10, 2014 8:40 AM

Today is Nikola Tesla's 158th birthday, and the day science geeks everywhere celebrate Tesla Day. Tesla was a pioneer in the early days of electricity. While Thomas Edison was advocating his direct current system (DC), which required a power plant ever couple of miles, Tesla was working with Westinghouse on alternating current (AC) electricity, a much more efficient system. Tesla also had ideas that would go on to inspire other scientists years later, including Guglielmo Marconi, who won a Nobel Prize for his work in the radio field. Many of Tesla's patents were used to create technology that we still use today.

Tesla was also the stereotypical mad scientist. He had an aversion to pearls, germs, and an obsession with the number three. He invented a death ray. Although he remained celibate all 86 years of his life, he fell in love with a pigeon who he believed he could communicate with, and who shot lasers out of her eyes right before she died.